Seat for bicycles



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CURTIS H. vnnnna, or PLATTSBURG, NEW YORK.

SEAT FOR BlCYCLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 252,280, dated January 10, 1882 r Application filed March 18, 1881. no model.)

' To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, CURTIS H. Vnnnnn, of Plattsburg, in the county of Clinton and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Seats for Bicycles and other Velocipedes, of which the following is a specification. r

My improvements relate to the class of seats known as saddles, and especially to devices forsuspendin g the leather or other flexible material of which the seating-surface is com posed, and for stretching or takin g up the slack in the same, and for connecting the same with the perch or supporting-bar for the seat, and by means of which the seat is made adjustable backward and forward over the perch orbar; and my present invention, which is in the nature of improvements upon devices heretofore shown and described by me in applications for Letters Patent, consists, first, in a divided metallic spring or supporting-plate for the flexible seat 5 second, in a modification of that portion of said metallic spring which forms the frame-work for the rear of the seat; third, in mechanism for elongating or extending said metallic spring so as to take up the slack of the flexible seat; and, fourth, in mechanism for completing the support of the seat and connectin g the same with the perch or supportingbar of the vehicle, so as to be adjustable backward and forward thereon; and the nature and scope of my invention will be more fully apparcut from the following description,taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in Which- Figure 1 shows a'contrivance embodying my improvements in one form as it is attached to a perch of a bicycle, a segment of which appears in the drawings. Fig. 2 shows in rear elevation the supporting and connecting mechanism and the perch in transverse section. Fig.

3 shows the duplex spring-plate in top plan,

without the flexible seat. Fig. 4 shows the part of the spring-plate which forms support for the rear of the flexible seat in a modified form. Fig. 5 shows in another form my improved supporting and adjusting mechanism for connecting the spring-plate and the perch. Fig. 6 shows a perch, with part of the seat containin g a part of my improvement in section.

'A is a perch or backbone for a bicycle, of which A isthe neck or forward part of the same, bearing the spindle by which it is held in the head of the bicycle.

B is a narrow and thin plate of steel, adapted at one end to receive the point or forward end of the flexible seat 0, which may be attached thereto by rivets c in the perforations 0 0 or otherwise, and having toward its rear end, b, an elongated slot, 7), the rear end, I), being free, and it may be extended, as shown in Fig. 1, as a guard, or it may be cut off immediately back of the slot b. This spring-plate B may be constructed, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, as an undivided plate, or, as shown in Fig. 6, as a divided one-thatis, the part between the point or front end and the place where the clamp is attached into two divisions having a curved form-the object of this latter construction being in part to give a greater length of the spring, and so more elasticity, and in part to enable the flexible part there to be brought nearer to the-perch by allowing the two branches or divisions of the plate B to pass, when depressed, one on either side the perch.

O is the flexible seating part of the seat, and

may consistof oneor more thicknessesofleather, with stuffing interposed or without, as may be desirable. I prefer to makeit of two or three thicknesses, as shown in the drawings, and I make it narrow at the forward end, where it is attached to the end of the plate B, and wide at the rear end, where it is attached to the arms at or d of the plate D or I), to which it may be fastened by rivets c in the perforations 0.

D is the rear portion of the spring-plate, or"

rather a second spring-plate, having a hole or slot in one end, 0?, or otherwise constructed so as to be held by a sliding bolt or clamp to the spring-plate B, thence extending backward and upward in a curved form in one, two, or more branches, terminating in supportingarms 01 d or d d, to form a supporting mech anism to the rear end of the flexile seat 0.

F is a bolt-clamp, which may be threaded at one end to receive the nutf, between Which' and the plate D may be inserted a washer, f, and which works at its middle part in the slot b, at the lower end of which,f are rectangular shoulders, extending on either side of slot b, to prevent its being drawn through said slot by tightening of the nutf, and by reason of which it serves, in connection with the nut, to

form a clamp holding two plates, B and D, together. It also has in the lower end,f a threaded hole for the adjusting-bolt F.

b is a stop on the under side of the plate 13. F is an adjusting-bolt,rectangular or otherwise, fitted to receive a wrench at one end,f by which it may be turned, and threaded to work in the threaded hole in the bolt-clamp F, and so constructed that its threaded end f may work against the stop b M is a metallic plate, forming a rest for the spring-plate B, which may be attached thereto by means of theclamp m, nut m, and bolt m from which M depend, by links M M, jointed at either side the perch, the plates M. These plates M contain elongated slots m through which passes the bolt M.

M is a clamp grasping the perch A, by which the supporting mechanism is held to the perch rigidly by means of the bolt M and nuts m m or similar mechanism.

m m are springs, attached at one end to the links M and at-the other to the supportingplate M, and coiled about the rod on or otherwise, so as to tend by their action to keep the spring-plate B up from the perch A, with the links m m extended substantially at right angles to the plate B.

K in Fig. 5 is a clamping-plate, to which the links K on either side the perch are hinged by means of the pin k and the lugs and which form-in connection with the bolt K threaded at each end, and the nuts K working thereon at each end, and said bolt passing through slots in the lower ends of the links K and on the under side of the perch A-a clamping mechanism of modified form.

By the hinges k k and the links K K are supported the arms K extending downward from a metallic supporting-plate under the spring-plate B, and to which the latter is held by means of lugs 1c, bolts K and nuts k, as shown in Fig. 5.

Thisimproved mechanism, when constructed substantially as shown in Fig. 1 furnishes a very elastic seat, owing to the springing qualities of the metallic plates B and Band the flexible material 0. It is readily attachable to and detachable from the perch or supporting-bar of avelocipede by mean s-of the clampingmechanism shown. It is adjustable by the latter to any point on the perch or bar. The flexile material G is easily brought to the proper tension in the first place, or afterward, to take up the slack caused by use, by turning the adjustingbolt F so as to force the clamping-bolt F backward from the stop I), thus extending the reach of the springplates, and which is easily accomplished by first loosening the nut fand tightening it again aftervthe extension has been made.

Theelamping and supporting mechanism are so constructed and operated that when made as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the seat may be adjusted at different distances within a short range above the perch, and so as to have more or less tilt forward-that is, to form a greater or less angle with the top of the perch or bar by adjustment of the plates M with the slots at and bolt M and nuts m Itis also adjustable to and from the front of the perch or bar, since, if, when the seat is in the position shown in Fig. 1, the rider takes his place thereon, the plate B must settle either backward or forward toward the perch by the swing of the links M M so as to be either nearer to or farther from the front of the perch, and this position toward or from the front will be determined by the motion and at the will of the rider when he mounts, orafterward. Theutilityofthisbackward-andforward adjustment is obvious from the fact that in riding upgrade on a bicycle, for instance, the rider, in order to exert the greater power, wishes to have his seat as near as possible to the front of the bicycle, and in riding downgrade, where less power is required, he desires, for the safety of his equilibrium, to have his seat as far back from the head of his machine as he can. I consider the forms of back spring-plate, D, shown in Figs. 3 and 4 as substantially equivalent, form shown in Fig. 3 being preferable for economy of manufacturing, and the form shown in Fig. 4 being preferable for elasticity.

The form of supporting and clamping device shown in Fig.5 is a modification of that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the vertical adj ust-ability being dispensed with, and the inclination of the top of the saddle being fixed by the shape of the plate K. It is a simpler form to construct, and it retains theadjustability to and from the front of the machine to some extent, and also allows of a rocking motion backward and forward to-a slight degree, relieving the legs of the operator from the rigidity of the operation of a fixed seat, the more especial advantage of this form of rocking attachment, as well as of the other one shown, arisin g/f-rom the fact-that with the ordinary rigid construction whenever the rear wheel of the bicycle strikes a pebble or other obstacle .it gives a jerking motion to the perch, which is imparted to the rider, and this is largely overcome by the present improvement.

The supportin g-plate-M maybefmade shorter longitudinally under the spring-plate B than the proportions shown in Fig. 1, where the plate 13 is of sufficient strength, in order to allow more flexibility.

I do not wish to be understood as confining myself to the specific form or attachments of devices shown and described, nor as limiting their application to the perch of a bicycle, since they may be varied as to their details, and are easily applicable to other forms of velocipedes carrying a seat for and propelled by the rider.

I am aware that a spring has been used to supp art the seat or saddle of a bicycle. I therefore do not claim the general application of a spring for this purpose; butI do claim the improved form of spring as herein described.

I claim as new and of my invention- 1. A suspension-saddle constructed with a flexible portion, G, and having an under spring in two or more parts, B D, to which the flexible portion is attached at either end,.and which metallic parts are extensible, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. In a velocipede-seat, the combination of plates B and D, clamp F, stop b and adjusting-bolt F, substantially'as shown and described.

3. An adjustable supporting device for a velocipede seat, consisting of a clamp, by which it is held to the perch or supporting bar, depending links, and arms connected therewith and adapted to be connected with and to support the spring-plate of the saddle, substantial] y as set fort 4. A supporting and adjusting device for a velocipede-saddle, consisting of slotted plates M M ,links M M, and suitable connecting and clamping mechanism adapted to hold the same to a perch or supporting-bar and the springplate of a saddle, and constructed to operate substantially in the manner and. for the purposes set forth.

5. In combination with the supporting-plate M and links M M and plates M M, the spring m constructed and attached substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

6. A spring-plate for a suspension-saddle, 0

having its rear portion divided into two or more curved arms or branches, constructed and adapted to support the rear end of a flexible seat, substantially as shown anrhlescribeil.

7. In the supporting mechanism of a seat to a bicycle, the spring-plate D, with two or more curved arms, in combination with the plate B,

- substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

CURTIS H. vnnnna.

Witnesses A. GUIBoRD, GEO. W. WATSON. 

